§ Caroline FlintTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what target he has set for increasing access to airports by public transport. [142054]
§ Mr. MullinIn their White Paper "A New Deal for Transport", the Government said that they expected all airports with more than 1,000 commercial aircraft movements a year to develop surface access strategies. These strategies contain short-term and long-term targets for increasing the proportion of passengers and airport staff travelling to and from the airport by public transport, walking and cycling. The Government have not stipulated what these targets should be, but their guidance on drawing up strategies emphasised that they should be realistic but challenging. Setting the targets is a matter for the Airport Transport Forum at each airport, a body comprising representatives of airport employers, public transport operators, local authorities and other interested parties.
Surface access strategies were produced by each airport earlier this year, and fed into local authority Local Transport Plans. They will therefore be taken into account in the Government's decision on funding for local transport schemes. It is now the task of the Airport Transport Forums to monitor performance against the targets. The Government will also monitor the situation.